Monday, March 17, 2014

Today I'm recovering from our trip to Honduras and reflecting on the amazing things we saw while in this beautiful country.

The people in Honduras are kind and loving. We see joy in the faces of children in each Compassion Project, though they live in abject poverty. The things that bring them delight are small and trivial as compared to the material society in which we live and the things our children desire. We are moved by their love for the Lord and the growing seeds of ambition that are planted in the hearts of these Compassion children- a belief that God has a plan for their lives and that they can make a difference in their country. We are touched by the tireless efforts of Compassion Project workers who care for and love these children with all they have.

It was a humbling moment when Pastora Candi at HO-283 announced that they were naming a new classroom in honor of my husband, Pastor Ed Seay. They had a ribbon-cutting ceremony and Ed and his sponsored child, Fernando, went in together to see an amazing new computer classroom. What an honor and blessing!

For the second time, I was blessed to be with my sponsored child, Alejandra Michelle, at HO-285. What a precious young 13 yr. old girl who desires to love God more and has a goal to go to college and become a teacher. She lives in a very small home with no running water. She walks a long way to get to school and to the project. She cares for her 2 little sisters and loves her mom and grandparents. It is such an amazing blessing to get to know these children and their families and better know how to pray for them and how to really love them.

Jessica's sweet little girl, Eimie, is very shy and struggles to smile. It was awesome for us to go with Jess to Eimie's home and meet her mother and her little brother. A smile emerged from her sweet face as she opened a princess backpack full of fun things for her. Even sweeter was the time of circling together, holding hands as Jess prayed for Eimie and her family. We are thankful for the ability to visit our children and help them know how much we love them.

I had the honor of meeting a friend's sponsored child in HO-286. Isaac is 13 yrs. old and sat down with me (and a translator) so I could give him some gifts sent by his sponsor. I told Isaac that his sponsor loved him very much and that she prays for him and she is very proud of him. As I shared this message through a translator, he covered his face and began to cry. I believe that God gave the words that HE knew Isaac needed on that day. It becomes apparent that these children are moved by the knowledge that someone who lives far away and has never met them, still loves them and prays for them. It was a touching moment that I will never forget.

One of my favorite experiences was the "blessing of the children". The Pastor at Project 284 asked that we line up on each side of the aisle of their church. He asked that we touch and bless the children as each of them passed through that tunnel of blessing. All of them, about 200, passed through smiling and reaching for us as we touched their heads and pronounced blessings over them. What a powerful time as we prayed for protection of their hearts and minds in a culture of evil and danger. We prayed that each of them would come to know Jesus as their Savior and that they would each realize the plan that God has for them - plans to give them a HOPE and a FUTURE.
In those moments you want to stay and hug and play and tell them over and over how much you love them and pray for them.

On the last full day of our visit, we met our sponsored children at an Inflatable Park for FUN DAY. What amazing smiles we got to see as they enjoyed climbing and sliding and jumping. They were carefree in those moments. They were not wondering if they would have enough food on that day or whether they would be safe or have clothes or water. They were playing and enjoying life in those moments. We are so thankful to Compassion for allowing us these opportunities to provide these kids with FUN. We spent hours with their families and had great conversations about life and Jesus.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child, go to www.compassion.com. If you would like to sponsor a child in the projects that we hope to visit each year you may call the 1-800 number on Compassion's website and ask about children in need of a sponsor in projects HO-283, HO-284, HO-285, HO-286.

Lord, help us to stay in this place of humility and gratefulness - this place where our hearts are affected by the sweet faces of children and the gracious welcoming hearts of families and project workers.